Rabada-de Villiers brilliance outclasses Australia to level series

Another day, another dazzling display from young star Kagiso Rabada and AB de Villiers, another disciplinary charge. Ultimately it also brought a handsome victory for South Africa, who won the 2nd Test match by six wickets inside four days to head to Newlands with the four-match series all square.

Australia began the day with no more than a shred of hope that they could post a really challenging target, and naturally it was Rabada who wiped that shred away. He went on to have Pat Cummins well caught by de Bruyn at gully to record his fourth 10-wicket haul in just his 28th Test. For comparison, Makhaya Ntini took four such hauls in 101 Tests and Dale Steyn has five from his 86 matches.

Although Australia added 35 for the last two wickets once Rabada’s spell had finished, their 239 all out still only left a target of 101. There were brief moments of doubt for the home side when Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram departed either side of lunch, with the former giving Nathan Lyon a return catch and the latter caught in the slips off Josh Hazlewood. The dismissals left South Africa on 32 for 2.

When de Villiers strode down the pitch to Lyon in the next over and his prod was well held by Cameron Bancroft at short leg, he had fallen to a bowler for the first time in the series, having hit 28 from 26 deliveries to do most of the work without finishing the job. Australia had a small opportunity to put pressure on Faf du Plessis and de Bruyn with 20 runs still needed, but de Bruyn held his nerve to knock off most the remaining runs.